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After you double down, if that was your choice, the dealer will give you one more card only, and will move onto the next hand. If you have a pair that you want to split, the software will also prompt you to determine what you wish to do. The original bet will go with one card and the software will place an equal amount of chips in the betting box near the other card. You are now playing two hands, each as though they were regular hands adhering to normal blackjack rules, with the exception being that if you have just split two aces, you only get one more card. If it is a ten, that hand's total is now 21 but the hand isn't considered a natural blackjack. That is, you are paid 1:1 and not 1.5:1 as for a natural.

The suit of the card doesn't matter in blackjack, only the point value. With that in mind, paying attention to your potential total on the next card is the main thinking part of the game.

There is no way to win automatically in blackjack; the closest you can get is being dealt a 21 with your first two cards without the dealer doing the same. This of course is simply called getting blackjack, or getting a natural blackjack, or sometimes simply called a natural. If both you and the dealer happen to get blackjack, it's a push and you don't get paid, you just get your money back. If you win on a natural blackjack you are paid a bonus that, as stated earlier, is usually 3 to 2 on your bet.

Part of learning to play blackjack well, or as some call it, becoming an advantage player, is learning when to bet more and when to bet less. Blackjack is a game with a variable house edge, and the amount of money you walk away with isn't determined by unalterable numbers each time (as would be the case in a game of roulette). This house edge fluctuation is only useful if we know how to take advantage of it, and there is one area where most people fall short, that area is doubling down.

Doubling down is the player's ability to increase their bet mid-hand if they feel they have a particularly good opportunity to win. This is the major variable that lets blackjack be played at a low house edge. The problem is that people don't often take advantage of this fact! Without taking advantage of when you should double down, the house edge soars as high as many games you'll be warned to never play. When people are presented with an opportunity to double down it's natural for them to think 'That must mean I have a good chance of winning, and since I'll win either way, I don't really need to double my bet, I'll be happy with just winning, I don't need to risk more'.

Of course this leads to people not doubling down even though it may be advantageous to do so. Keep in mind though that the house edge gained from a good strategy is only attainable if you take advantage of those double down situations. There is no better money-making opportunity than the double down that Blackjack rules offer.

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The essentials of blackjack Here we summarize a couple of the things every player needs to learn about blackjack at one stage or another. Read this page if you are already familiar with the basics of blackjack and are familiar with things like splitting and doubling down.

Use free blackjack to make more money! Use free online casino blackjack to make more money? Isn't that a contradiction? How can free play make you money? In fact, there are two distinct ways that playing free blackjack online can help make you more real money.